Stair tread non-skid treatment

ABSTRACT

An improvement for a wood stair tread of the type having a generally transparent protective coating thereon, the improvement being a three dimensional pattern formed in a top surface of the stair tread to both improve footing and preserve the natural appearance of the wood forming the top surface of the tread.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/439,684 filed Jan. 13, 2003, the entire contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to the field of stairs, more particularly,to a stair tread, which is a horizontal member which is intended to bewalked upon by humans in a staircase.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] In the past, various treatments have been utilized to provide anon-skid surface to stair treads. When such treads were made ofhardwood, the natural attractiveness of the wood was often desired to bedisplayed for aesthetic purposes. Typically, a hard, generallytransparent coating was applied to allow display of the natural woodfinish of the stair parts, including the tread. Such finishes includedvarnishes and polyurethane coatings, which performed the displayfunction, but resulted in a stair tread that had a relatively smoothsurface to walk on, and which could result in sliding or skidding as itwas trod upon. Such a smooth coated surface, while providing anaesthetically pleasing surface to look at, was somewhat less desirableas a surface to walk on, particularly when a person lacked shoes orother footwear that provided a sufficient coefficient of friction toestablish firm footing as the stairs were traversed.

[0004] One solution to the slippery surface was to cover at least acentral portion of the stair tread with a non-slip covering such ascarpeting or adhesive-backed non-skid polymer strips. In a marineenvironment, it was known to add sand to varnish to provide a non-skidsurface to walk on. However, each of these prior art attempts to providea non-skid surface to a stair tread had shortcomings, particularly withrespect to concealing the aesthetic appearance of the natural wood stairtread. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providinga non-skid treatment to a stair tread without concealing the naturalappearance of a stair tread made of wood.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005]FIG. 1 shows a simplified fragmentary perspective view of astaircase having stair treads useful in the practice of the presentinvention.

[0006]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stair tread showing a firstembodiment of the non-skid treatment of the present invention.

[0007]FIG. 3 is a section view taken along line 3-3 of the stair treadof FIG. 2.

[0008] FIGS. 4-27 show alternate embodiments of the non-skid treatmentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Referring now to the Figures, and most particularly to FIG. 1, astaircase 10 may be seen. Staircase 10 has a plurality of steps 12, witheach step formed by a horizontally oriented stair tread 14 and avertically oriented riser 16. Steps 12 may be supported by a pair ofstringers 18, (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1). A landing tread 20may be used at the topmost end of the staircase.

[0010] Referring now also to FIGS. 2 and 3, a stair tread 14 formed ofwood and showing one embodiment of the non-skid treatment may be seen.Tread 14 in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a three dimensional pattern 22 cut into orotherwise formed in the top surface 24 of the tread 14. In theembodiment shown, pattern 22 is a plurality of grooves 26 extending fromthe top surface 24 into the body 28 of the tread 14.

[0011] It is to be understood that other forms of the three dimensionalpattern 22 may be used in the top surface 24 of the tread 14. Providinga three dimensional pattern 22 in the top surface 24 results in a topsurface geometry that is not simply a plane surface, thus providing asomewhat textured top surface 24 for tread 14. This non-skid treatmentresults in contours in the top surface 24 which will provide a grippingaction for persons walking on the stair treads 14 to reduce the chanceof slipping. At the same time the surface finish of the stair tread maystill be a hard, smooth, generally transparent coating such as varnish,polyurethane or the like. Using the non-skid treatment of this inventionalong with one of the conventional coatings mentioned will permit thenatural appearance of the wood of the tread to remain visible in anaesthetically pleasing manner, while the three dimensional pattern 22improves the footing on the tread, and may provide an additionalaesthetically pleasing design element to the appearance of the stairtread.

[0012] The invention is thus seen to be a wood stair tread having athree dimensional pattern formed in the top surface thereof. The stairtread of the present invention may be coated with a generallytransparent coating covering at least the top surface of the tread topermit the natural appearance of the wood to be visible.

[0013] Various forms of three dimensional patterns may be used in thepractice of the present invention, provided that the top surface of thetread is other than a simple plane surface and improves the footing overthat which would exist with a simple coated or finished plane surface.

[0014] Referring now to FIGS. 4 through 27, alternate embodiments of thenon-skid treatment of the present invention may be seen. It is to beunderstood that the three dimensional patterns shown in FIGS. 4-27 areillustrative and not limiting, since the three dimensional pattern cantake numerous forms in addition to those shown expressly herein. It isfurther to be understood that as used herein, “wood” for the stair treadis preferably, but not necessarily hardwood. The stair tread of thepresent invention may be made of wood other than hardwood, and may evenbe made of composite materials such as particle board or othercompressed cellulose or other materials with a wood veneer for the topsurface 24 into which the three dimensional pattern 22 is formed. Thepattern 22 may be formed by saw or other machine cutting, or may be diecut when veneer is used. Alternatively, pattern 22 may be embossed orotherwise formed in top surface 24 of the tread 14.

[0015] This invention is not to be taken as limited to all of thedetails thereof as modifications and variations thereof may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a wood stair tread of the type forming agenerally horizontal member to be walked upon by humans in a staircase,the improvement in combination therewith comprising a three dimensionalpattern in a top surface of the stair tread to provide improved footingof a human walking thereon.
 2. The improved stair tread of claim 1further comprising a generally transparent coating permitting thenatural appearance of the wood to be displayed through the coating. 3.The improved stair tread of claim 1 wherein the three dimensionalpattern comprises a plurality of geometric figures.
 4. The improvedstair tread of claim 1 wherein the three dimensional pattern comprises arepeating geometrical pattern.
 5. The improved stair tread of claim 1wherein the three dimensional pattern includes a plurality of groovesextending from the top surface into the body of the tread.